This invention relates to sanitary covers for pacifiers and, more particularly, to a removable pacifier cover adapted for snap-in insertion of one of several types of children's pacifiers of the type including a mouth shield supporting and surrounding a nipple.
The provision of sanitary covers for children's pacifiers is widely known. Such covers are used by manufacturers to protect the nipple portion of the pacifier during handling and shipping before sale and by the parents of a child after sale on a repeatable basis to protect the pacifier during travel and before and after use by the child to prevent contamination, especially after sterilization. In the past, varying types of pacifier covers have been used. In one form, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,860,639, a pacifier cover includes a conical section adapted to receive the nipple portion and an annular flange which is slit at spaced locations for fitting over and engagement with the periphery of a substantially rigid, apertured disk or mouth shield surrounding the nipple portion of the pacifier. The annular flange springs slightly outwardly in each of the sections between the slits to hold the disk in protective covering relation against spaced bosses provided within the shield.
The cover of U.S. Pat. No. 2,860,639 lacks any provision for positive retention of the pacifier disk within the cover and relies solely upon the spring action of the annular slit flanges extending around the cover. During rough handling such as when dropped by a child, the pacifier can easily dislodge from such a cover allowing contamination of the nipple portion.
Other varieties of pacifier covers have also been tried. For example, other covers adapted to be received over the mouth shields of pacifiers include inwardly extending projections on the cover interior. These projections are received over the peripheral edge of the pacifier shield to hold it securely in place within the cover. However, the terminal portions of the cover adjacent the opening in which the shield is received are relatively inflexible and thus must be fitted precisely to the size of the specific pacifier shield to be inserted and cannot accommodate various sizes of pacifier shields.
A need was therefore evident for an improved pacifier cover which would provide ease of insertion and yet secure retention of varying sizes of shields on pacifiers in order to reduce manufacturing costs by allowing the production of a single type pacifier cover for several different pacifiers. The present invention was devised in recognition of and as a solution for that need.